ascender

We've been riding our luck for so long, yesterday was inevitable, especially as it was a one-off game where Hibs were right up for it.

I think it was at 2-0 and another looping cross came in to the box, but it landed inside the 6 yard line and there was a bit of a stramash which we got away with. McGregor could have taken a step off his line and done something, anything to clear it. It might even have hit off him if he'd just come off his line but he didn't bother and we were lucky to get away with it. I don't know if its a confidence thing or not, but he needs dropped. And I know I'm old fashioned, but the amount of rotating we did this season with him and McLaughlin seemed nuts given the sort of goals we were conceding. We got away with it last season but I've no idea why Gerrard did it this season.

I take it we're just going to gloss over Goldson's interview after the game? Probably for the best.

When I was growing up, the league cup was the first chance to get a trophy and I was always excited about it - Gers teams always seemed right up for it too. A good chance to lay down a marker for the season and I’m sure it gives the players a lift too. We should be aiming for all three trophies with the squad we have.

So with Tav, can we drop him given just how many goals and assists he gets? Because that’s the stock response you get when you mention it as a possibility. With Katic on loan and Helander out, who do we replace Goldson with? Morelos has been pish for a while. He improved his all-round game last season, but was that at the expense of just letting him do what he does best which is terrorise defences?

Anyone surprised by that performance then? Gerrard has a lot to answer-for as we've played like that all season and the management team were unable to sort it out. I didn't think the coaching staff would change anything, but I hoped players would rise to the occasion of a semi final and also be looking to impress the new manager but what a shambles. Not sure where he starts with the defence. Putting McLaughlin in as number 1 would be a start. Borna is still a shadow of his former self, so not sure why Bassey didn't start. Tav? What do you do when you have someone like him who brings so much to the team, but at the same time, seems to be contributing to many of our problems. The midfield at times lived-up to every criticism we've had of them during Gerrard's time when things weren't going well for us. Toothless, indirect, out of ideas and afraid to have a shot. I thought Arfield looked much better, him and Aribo get pass marks. What is going on with Morelos? Looking at our bench, I'd have been tempted to start with McLaughlin, Bassey, Sakala and maybe even Bacuna & Haji. The only saving grace at the moment is that somehow we're still top of the league.

I just got sent a text with a picture of a post from FF which is in Orange text which would suggest its maybe now all done and tomorrow is the day.... and David Edgar has posted a picture of himself with a new Holland top....

Its really funny to see irrelevant journalists posting articles about this which are almost immediately debunked by people like David Edgar and others with official & unofficial ties to the club. Really showing mainstream media up for what its become.

KT as an assistant/coach would make sense but I'd be amazed if he would be so stupid as to tweet a picture like that if he was to be involved in any way?

If he does get significant funds to spend, he could easily spend some of that on a player or two without making a dent in it - we'd get a reasonable fee and they'd get players he's worked-with already which would make it the very definition of low risk for Villa.

There have been murmurs Gerrard wasn't happy with the lack of fund this year, but when you look at the accounts, its pretty clear that if he'd qualified for the CL, he'd probably have been given some money. The team has looked out of sorts all season and making lots of basic mistakes. That's on the coaching staff to sort out, but they've been unable to do it. So its not unreasonable to look at where we are and assume that's come in to SG's thinking too. Presumably he's been told that Liverpool want him to have some EPL experience before they consider him for the job, but I also think that if he'd stayed, showed he could retain a title and win a cup, that would definitely have been plus points for him too. Its hard not to think he's jumped at the first offer in the EPL from a club which doesn't have off-the-field issues around ownership, finances or one of those clubs which isn't a favourite to be relegated. McCoist summed it up when he said it leaves a bit of a sour taste when you look at the timing and circumstances, that's all it is for me.

Aribo, Kamara and Kent are the obvious players for Gerrard to want to sign - I say that without knowing much about the current Villa squad. Of those three, I think Kent would be the biggest loss to us as we've seen from how we've played when he's nee unavailable or unfit.

Kent and Kamara are the obvious choices, especially as Kamara was linked with Villa before. I still have a niggling doubt he might fancy Morelos as well given he could be picked up for what, 10-15M? A game worth taking?

For as long as we play in Scotland I think that's all we'll ever get with the majority of players and managers. That ambition should help them do the best possible job for the club they're at though. The thing is, what you need to have is a DOF in place and the supporting infrastructure so that when a manager does leave, you can quickly get someone new in who shares the same goals & mindset so its not a wholesale "rip everything up and start again". It feels to me like we're nearly there - albeit we need to trim the squad and add a couple of quality players. I might be remembering this wrong, but was GVB not one of the players who admitted when he came here to play, that his ambitions were to play in England? But he was pretty honest and open about it? Maybe it was someone else from that group of players.

We are in such a better position on and off the pitch than last time when we were looking for a manager. Its quite exciting and I do wonder if Gerrard leaving will actually become a good thing as there was clearly something up this season.

I see Lampard has ruled himself out of the Norwich job. All the noise seems to be Gio, Lampard and one other...

So according to someone on FF, Frank Lampard was on his flight to Edinburgh today.... And someone else has posted a screenshot allegedly from an airline booking system showing Gio's on his way to London tomorrow. Its going to be a mad few days I reckon.

Gio just seems like such a good fit with where we are at the moment. Its almost like everything has aligned to bring us to this point where he's also available. Given the Villa thing hasn't happened overnight, I'd be disappointed if we're not already in advanced talks with someone. Especially with the international break, the sooner the better. Did I really see on Twitter last night that Keith Jackson was suggesting McInnes in some way??

You can be somewhere in the middle can't you? We all knew he'd go, but many of us presumed it would be for something like the Liverpool job, after retaining a title and giving the CL a go. Not to leave so soon after winning the title, proclaiming his undying love for the club, fans etc and then presiding over a very shoogly start to the next season. The going gets tough and he takes the first EPL job offered? Or maybe he felt he'd achieved all he ever could here? But what's changed since the close season? Its just all bit strange.

Just as an outsider looking-in on their management strategy for the last however-many-years.

The latest accounts show we need to trim our squad a bit and also that selling a player or two can massively transform our annual position, so if he was to offer reasonable money it could be a good move for all concerned.

I agree too, but Chelsea are a complete basket case of a club so its hard to judge anybody on a short time there. I thought he showed some promise from his time there.

That would be so short-sighted and a backwards step of the club. Utterly depressing if we did something like that, we've come so far in the last few years.

Bruce or Warnock? That would be a massive step backwards IMO. Dinosaurs of the game and not what we should be looking to do given what we have in place on and off the field now. I still think this has been in the offing for a while which might explain a lot about this season. And SG can't moan about the budget as our failure to qualify for the CL has dictated available funds.

That was my first reaction, but I guess they're one of those clubs outside of the top 4/6 who seem to be well run and have potential to finish in one of those places from 5th down? Which seems crazy, but the EPL is really split in to two with the top 4 and then everyone else. I know its the self-proclaimed GREATEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD, but its where the money is, a lot of the top coaches are and I guess SG sees it as a stepping stone to a job with Liverpool or another one of the elite in Europe. I think its also a move which could backfire for him, but who knows. I won't be paying much attention to him either way tbh.